2018 Speakers

Luis Felipe de Oliveira

Executive Director

ALTA

Luis Felipe de Oliveira is currently the Executive Director of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA).

De Oliveira has vast experience in commercial and technical aviation fuel. Prior to joining ALTA, he served as World Fuel Services’ Vice President Supply Development for Latin America and Caribbean where he was in charge of improving World Fuel’s aviation fuel business in the region based in Switzerland.

He also spent 10 years with IATA in charge of fuel, airport and ANSP campaigns interacting with governments, oil companies, fuel service providers and airports, for the Americas, Africa and the Middle East regions, based in Switzerland.

In addition, de Oliveira served 12 years at Shell companies. His main focus was in Latin America and the Caribbean and he also led significant work in the African market where he led a segmentation project, as well as in Europe where he worked as a European Sales manager, based in The Netherlands.

De Oliveira is a Chemical Engineer who graduated from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, has a postgraduate in Finance from the University of São Paulo, an MBA from Dom Cabral Foundation in São Paulo, and Post MBA from Kellogg University in Chicago.

He is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese is his mother tongue. He was born in Brazil.

Yohan Closs

Head of Services Sales Latin America

Airbus

Yohan Closs currently serves as AIRBUS Head of Services Sales Latin America, in charge of promoting and selling Airbus Services like Flight Hour Services Component and Total Support Package, Upgrades, Maintenance & Engineering, Material, Training and Airbus Digital solutions like Skywise and predictive maintenance.

With an Aerospace MBA and a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Yohan Closs has an extensive 16 years professional experience in Airbus Future Projects and Customer Services. He has developed strong exposure to airline and MRO, strategy, business development and training and has previously served within Airbus as Propulsion Systems Engineer, Head of Maintenance Training and Training Development, Sales Director Services Solutions for Latin American region.

Santiago Saltos

Assistant Director Industry Affairs

ALTA

Santiago Saltos as the Industry Affairs Assistant Director for the Latin American and Caribbean Airline Association (ALTA, in Spanish) is in charge of Airport and Fuel charges campaigns and leads the Safety and Operations projects from throughout the region in representation of ALTA's members. Regarding Airport and Fuel, Saltos has been involved in a series of actions that have resulted in important savings for the aviation industry. In terms of Safety, Santiago is currently working on projects that seek to mitigate risk situations that prevent accidents in our region and member of the Regional Aviation Safety Group for the Pan American Region (RASG-PA).

Santiago comes from a family of aviators and has been involved in aviation since a young age in his country of origin, Ecuador. He holds a Commercial Pilot certificate, a Bachelor's degree in Business Airline Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) and a Master's degree in Travel and Tourism from Florida International University (FIU).

Jonathan Berger

Managing Director

Alton Aviation Consultancy

Jonathan Berger brings more than 26 years of MRO industry experience to his client engagements. Jonathan leads Alton Aviation Consultancy’s Global Aerospace & MRO practice, specializing in strategic planning, market analysis, operational improvement, and commercial M&A due diligence. Prior to joining Alton, Jonathan was a vice president at SH&E and ICF, where he was responsible for leading the global airline engineering and maintenance advisory practice. He began his career at Delta Air Lines, where he held numerous leadership roles in airline operations, quality assurance, supply chain management and technology. During his final assignment with Delta TechOps, Mr. Berger was based in Paris, France responsible for developing and executing an MRO sales & marketing strategy for the Europe, Africa and Middle East (EMEA) region. Jonathan received his BS in Industrial Management from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Miguel Montoya

Senior VP Engineering & Maintenance

Avianca

Miguel Montoya Estrada is a Mechanical Engineer from Colombia’s Universidad Nacional, he has completed Aeronautical and Finance Studies in Canada, United States, and Europe.

He has worked for more than 30 years in the aviation industry where he currently serves as Senior VP of Engineering & Maintenance for Avianca, which covers 8 airlines in 9 countries and their respective FAR145 Repair Stations. He has held multiple positions in technical areas, from technician, supervisor, Quality Control Inspector, Engine Engineer, Director of Engineering and then took the Vice Presidency at Avianca where he leads a team of 3,450 people among engineers and technicians.

Montoya lead Avianca’s transformation taking it to world-class technical performance levels and he also lead the inclusion of these Engineering and Maintenance standards: Avianca Brasil, Tampa, Aerogal and Grupo Taca airlines.

Under his responsibilities are the processes of: Quality Control, Engineering, Line Maintenance, Repair Stations FAR145 in several countries of Avianca Holding (MRO), Training, Planning, Production Control and Materials. Additionally all strategic and financial processes related to engineering and maintenance activities.

Miguel Montoya has served as Chairman of ALTA’s Technical Committee, as coordinator of the technical areas of the different Latin American airlines for several years.

Dave Kingstone

Head of Business Development - Airline Accounts

BAE Systems

Dave is a 38-year veteran at BAE Systems. Originally from the UK, he has spent the past 25 years in Seattle, supporting the company’s business with the commercial airline industry and Boeing.

He currently provides global business development leadership to the Customer Support and Services organization. He works closely with airlines and MRO organizations to provide tailored, value-added service offerings for the company’s wide range of air transport and engine systems product lines.

Dave’s experience includes developing the first turnkey aftermarket support program early-generation IFE on United Airlines B777, which went on to become an industry benchmark. He was the flight test and certification director for the American Airlines and South African Airways B737-NG Heads-Up Display program and has been involved in a variety of flight control, air traffic management, and cabin electronics programs with a number of OEMs.

Ahmad Zamany

Vice President of Technical Operations

Copa Airlines

Ahmad Zamany joined Copa Airlines in August of 2010 as Vice President of Technical Operations, ultimately responsible for the Maintenance, Engineering and Technical Purchasing of the Company. Mr. Zamany started his aviation career with Pan Am and has held several key roles with other carriers. He was previously with Atlas Air & Polar Air Cargo as Vice President of Technical Operations, and Gemini Air Cargo as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Zamany graduated from Parks College of Saint Louis University with a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautics concentrated in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering in 1985.

Daniel Kanter

Assistant General Counsel, Chief Counsel Antitrust

IATA

Daniel is IATA’s Chief Counsel for Antitrust and Competition Law. In addition to ensuring antitrust compliance for IATA and the aviation industry, Daniel works to set the strategic direction of competition law policy in aviation. Daniel’s team looks at certain areas where competition doesn’t work very well–where for example airlines are on the receiving end of anticompetitive conduct—and review strategic options to make the industry more competitive and lowering costs.

Recently, Daniel is leading IATA’s efforts as a formal complainant in the European Commission's investigation into monopolistic practices in the aircraft MRO market. This is an area of deep concern for our members, and accounts for approximately $64bn per year. Prior to joining IATA, Daniel practiced as an antitrust attorney at the law firm of White & Case LLP in Washington, DC and Brussels, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in Washington, DC and the law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Brussels.

Chris Markou

Head, Operational Cost Management

IATA

Chris Markou is Head, Operational Cost Management for IATA's Operations department. Chris has been working on Airline Operations Cost Management and Efficiency Improvement. He has worked on several initiatives to optimize airline operational costs using industry best practices and benchmarks on Airline and especially Maintenance Costs trends.

Part of his focus is the “Paperless Aircraft Operations” initiative leading to simplifying the business through worldwide acceptance of electronic documentation and records. Chris is the Secretary to several groups on airline cost benchmarking, technical operations and aircraft leasing.

Before IATA, Chris worked at Delta TechOps. He held various positions in TechOps’ Strategy leading to General Manager for Technical Sales - Marketing. Chris holds a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech and an Executive MBA from Emory University.

Hal Chrisman

Vice President

ICF International

Hal Chrisman has over 30 years of aviation and aerospace industry experience split between consulting and executive-level industry positions. Hal’s experience spans all major market segments including commercial air transport, defense, rotary wing, and business and general aviation. His functional focus as a consultant has been strategic planning, MRO operational improvement, and transaction support.

Hal’s experience includes managing jet engine design and development programs at Williams International; working with aviation and aerospace customers as a senior director in Oracle's A&D Solution Center; running business development for e-commerce start-up AeroSpan; leading corporate development for a provider of commercial and military aircraft MRO services; and leading numerous consulting engagements for The Canaan Group, Cirrus Advisors, AeroStrategy, and now ICF.

Hal has a B.A. from Hanover College, a B.S. in Engineering from Texas A&M University, and an M.B.A from the University of Michigan.

Raymundo Villar

Regional Vice President, Aviation Americas

Inmarsat

Raymundo is responsible for establishing Inmarsat as the preferred service provider in aircraft connectivity in the Americas Region. He has 21 years of marketing and sales experience as well as technical knowledge of the telecommunications and aerospace industries, having worked previously in high profile companies such as Alcatel-Lucent, EMS Aviation, Honeywell, and Gogo.

He started his career as a commissioned officer in the Peruvian Navy and worked as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), supervising the deployment of telecommunications networks for public and private institutions.

Raymundo holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and a Postgraduate Degree in Electronics and Communications from the Peruvian Navy. He also holds an MBA Degree in Technology Management from the University of Phoenix.

Francisco Sanchez

VP Strategic Sourcing Technical & Supplier Management

LATAM Airlines

Francisco Sánchez Arrieta is the Vice President of Technical Strategic Sourcing for LATAM's group Procurement unit. The Procurement unit is responsible for nearly 60% of the group's costs including fuel and has it mains offices in Santiago, Chile. Francisco took this position after the merger of LAN and TAM on 2012 with the main responsibility of finding synergies, developing the supplier strategy and performance improvement to achieve the TCO targets.

Francisco has 10 years of experience on the industry on several leadership positions, such as out stations line maintenance manager, cabin and aircraft modifications projects, B787 cabin projects, materials and contracts negotiations with TCO methodology. Francisco has a degree in Industrial Engineering with a major in operations management from the University of Chile.

Francisco's main focuses are Supplier Relationship Management, Rotables, C&E and MRO Sourcing and Sales Strategy, Negotiations and Innovation projects along with the development of a team to face LATAM's challenges.

Jon is a Chartered Engineer with the UK Royal Aeronautical Society, an Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) board member, a member of the APEX Technology Committee leadership team and is a regular speaker at industry conferences/forums on a wide range of cabin, passenger and crew issues.

Sameer Garg

VP Connectivity Product Management & Value Proposition

THALES

Product and Marketing Executive with 20 years of experience in Telecommunications. Success through product and commercial leadership, developing new markets and business lines, delivering profitable revenue growth. Executive career initially focused on developing new markets inside multiple billion-dollar revenue companies transitioning to launching or re-structuring 100M+ business units to maximize market penetration, profitability and growth. Oversees commercial functions with a passion for building multi-million dollar business lines and brands from the ground.